At the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival, you can meet communities from around the world presenting music, dance, crafts, foodways, storytelling, and other living traditions. Our goal is to strengthen and preserve these cultures by presenting them on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The next Festival:June 27–July 1 and July 4–8, 2018.

Hope to see you here!

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Looking Ahead

Next year our attention will turn internationally, as we highlight cultural heritage enterprises in Africa, Armenia, and Catalonia through fashion, feasts, and other festivities. Expect to experience human towers with the Catalans, Armenian craft and cooking demonstrations, traditional-meets-contemporary styles from around the African continent, and much more.

As we prepare and collaborate with communities around the world, we’re also planning for the years ahead. In 2019, we will feature the social power of music, as a means to build community, reinforce identity, and influence society, and in 2020 indigenous communities, cultural sustainability, and the environment.

The Festival brought the rich history, mystique, and diversity of circus to life with performances and a look behind the scenes from generations of American circus families and contemporary visionaries.

During a Reunion Weekend of discussions and jam sessions, we rang in a half-century by looking into the past and to the future, inviting staff, participants, and visitors to share their views on the culture of the Festival.

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